The Council of Chief State School Officers received valuable contributions from many organizations and individuals in preparing State Education Indicators with a Focus on Title I 2001-02. We consider the report a collaborative effort.

We received strong support from chief state school officers, state assessment directors, and state Title I directors for the idea of a 50-state report profiling key statewide education indicators and indicators of progress of Title I programs. States provided excellent cooperation in reporting not only the state assessment data required under Title I but also further details about state assessment programs and student demographics that provide the context for analyzing assessment results. State education staff carefully reviewed the data in the state profiles and provided important suggestions for improving the report, and we thank them for their continued assistance which makes the profiles possible.

Funding support for the State Education Indicators report was provided under a task order from the U.S. Department of Education, Policy and Program Studies Service. We very much appreciate the guidance and assistance provided by staff in the Policy and Program Studies Service, including Kirsten Duncan, Jessica Hausman, and Joe McCrary, as well as staff from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, including Mary Moran and Chuck Laster. The National Center for Education Statistics provided access to data files from the Common Core of Data, NAEP, and Schools and Staffing Survey, and we particularly thank John Sietsema and Beth Young for their assistance. The database for the state profiles was developed in collaboration with Westat, Inc., and we appreciate the efforts of Beth Sinclair, Nina Blecher, and Babette Gutmann in data collection and project support.

The data were proofed by Lori Cavell, Carla Toye, and Carlise Greenfield. The state assessment directors, Title I coordinators, and CCD coordinators reviewed the profiles and proofed the state assessment data. The EIAC subcommittee on assessment, co-chaired by Sally Tiel (Idaho) and Louis Fabrizio (North Carolina), reviewed the design and offered suggestions.